The Maine

Can't Stop Won't Stop

Written by: PP on 26/08/2008 12:46:20

Despite the fact that The Maine is fronted by yet another Patrick Stump / William Beckett (The Academy Is...) clone, their debut album "Can't Stop Won't Stop" still manages to convey a little more character than most other pop punk bands that land on our review desk. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why, because it eventually comes down to very small details that grab your attention, but it could be things like the cleverly stressed lyrics "Prada is what she wears" in the bouncy "Everything I Ask For", or simply the catchy chorus in the balladic "We All Rock Along", which by all logic should be boring, but it just isn't.

I think what it boils down is that The Maine's musical landscape is slightly curvier and quirkier than their contemporaries. Not much, but enough to have you enjoy the odd riff or the vocal harmony that Johan O'Callaghan spits out occasionally. Songs like "Girls Do What They Want" fall more under the power pop label than purely pop punk, but they win over hearts and singalongs through a gang shouted chorus, a strange ingredient not usually present in this type of music.

But I'd be lying if I said they'd be doing something particularly original. All of "Can't Stop Won't Stop" is basically re-iterating the things that make Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is..., All Time Low or Hit The Lights as big (or good, depending on your views) as they are. But that's okay, at least if you like or don't mind those bands, because the more bands that are doing the pop punk formula right, the better.

The only problem is that The Maine, like all too many pop punk bands I've reviewed this year, fails to deliver a full length's worth of good songs. It's the classic 'half the album is good - rest is filler' fault, which has thus far plagued at least Go Audio and Kessler earlier this year. Why can't they just release another EP or wait until they've got enough songs to fill the whole record?

Download: Everything I Ask For, Time To Go
For the fans of: Fall Out Boy, The Academy Is..., Hit The Lights
Listen: Myspace

Release date 08.07.2008
Fearless Records

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.